Celebrity Beyond HONEST Cruise Review | CruiseReport

this was our second cruise with celebrity in two years last year we sailed on Celebrity Apex and this year we sailed on Celebrity Beyond now do we notice any differences has anything improved has anything gotten worse well that's kind of the stuff we're going to talk about [Music] thank you hello Cruisers and welcome to another Cruise report cruise ship review today I'm going to talk about our recent experience aboard celebrity Beyond now just to be clear celebrity is not sponsoring this video they don't get to see the video before you do they don't have any idea what I'm going to say and as always I'm going to tell you exactly what we liked about this ship and what we didn't like when watching cruise reviews on YouTube it may be helpful to know and understand the background of the reviewer because a young couple traveling with children is going to have a completely different opinion of a Celebrity Cruise the crew and the facilities than would say an adult couple such as ourselves we see and review things from the perspective of an adult couple traveling together are sailing on Celebrity Beyond was our 139th Cruise in the past 21 years and our sixth with celebrity over that period we've sailed on 39 different cruise lines and 109 different ships we've sailed on Mega ships that carry more than 5 000 guests and small ships that can carry only 18 people we've been on River Cruises Expedition cruises paddle wheelers sailboats and even spent 15 nights aboard a freighter now I only mention that so you'll understand that when we conduct a review we have a broad background on ships State rooms service food and dining and entertainment in this video our main objective is to answer one simple question is Celebrity Cruises and more specifically celebrity Beyond a good choice for adult couples there are some areas of the ship that we did not get to experience and that's pretty common on large ships we sort of have to pick and choose the things that we believe most people in our audience have an interest in we can only review that which we have personally experienced some of the venues that we did not get to experience on Celebrity Beyond we did experience on apex last year today Celebrity Cruises is Royal Caribbean's premium brand with silver sea cruises being their luxury brand for the cruise group as a premium brand Celebrity Cruises should be compared to other brands like princess Holland America Oceana Viking ocean and virgin voyages and at the end of this video I'm going to tell you where I think celebrity fits into that mix of Premium cruise lines so make sure you watch to the very end we arrived at Terminal 25 at Port Everglades at about 10 30 a.m celebrities terminal 25 is the nicest one we've seen at Port Everglades the waiting area is very large with comfortable seating and they even offered guests cucumber and orange flavored water we were able to watch the mandatory muster safety video using their app on our phones while we were in the terminal when boarding did begin it was very organized and painless our stateroom keys were waiting for us outside of our stateroom and after we dropped off our carry-on luggage all we had to do was visit the muster station where a crew member scanned the celebrity app on our smartphone this was by far the easiest embarkation and muster process that we've ever experienced on a ship this size celebrity Beyond is the third in a series of Edge class vessels these ships are instantly recognizable by their somewhat blunt looking parabolic Ultra Ball distinctive x-shaped funnel and of course that bright orange magic carpet feature that's on the side of the ship foreign Beyond can carry 3260 guests when fully booked at Double occupancy about 350 more than Edge or Apex according to a couple of different websites Beyond carries a crew of between 1400 and 1450 by comparison the newest princess ships are a bit larger in tonnage and carry 3660 guests but with a crew of only 1346 Holland America new ship Rotterdam carries 2668 guests with a crew of 10.25 so the gasta crew ratio of celebrity Beyond works out to 2.24 to 2.3 to 1 while Discovery princess is 2.72 to 1 and Rotterdam 2.6 to 1. so if you're a believer that a higher ratio of crew members to guests translates into better service of the three premium Brands celebrity Edge class ships have a mathematical Edge the ship looks as classy and luxurious on the outside as she does on the inside there are no water slides or rock climbing walls or roller coasters so even from a distance you can see that the ship is designed with adult Cruisers in mind there's nothing particularly flashy about the public spaces there's no Grand glitzy staircase no shiny brass or Chrome the most attention grabbing feature on the ship is the Grand Plaza with a huge LED light display that hovers over the martini bar and that is pretty impressive the decor of the ship is contemporary but understated rather than awe-inspiring celebrity has opted for more Comfort inspiring Elegance celebrity is invested in some of the most unique Modern Art installations lighting and furniture that you're going to find on any ships public spaces [Music] foreign [Music] Beyond has two Banks of elevators one forward and one aft with eight elevators in each for a total of 16. the elevators themselves are the largest we've seen on any cruise ship we heard that there were over three thousand people sailing on our cruise elevator lobbies are very clearly marked with excellent signage so you know exactly where you are or where you're going moving around the ship is very easy to figure out most public spaces are on decks three four and five 14 15 and 16. sweet guests will have exclusive access to the retreat areas which are now Consolidated on decks 15 16 and 17 forward Fitness enthusiasts are sure to love the well-equipped fitness center a place that we tend to avoid we do enjoy the jogging walking Track which was one of our favorites on any ship this track features twists and turn turns and elevation changes between decks 15 and 16 just to keep things interesting and five laps around this track equals one mile one thing you won't find on Celebrity Beyond surprisingly is a library so if you like to read on your balcony you better bring a book with you or your iPad we are working on a separate video dedicated to an in-depth look at our infinite balcony stateroom so I don't want to get too deep into that subject in this video last year we were fortunate enough to enjoy a sky Suite with Retreat access so you might find the contrast quite interesting coming from a 320 square foot Sky Suite to a 243 square foot infinite balcony I'll let you in on one Little Secret The Sky Suite last year felt much larger than 320 square feet and the infinite balcony felt smaller than 243 square feet I'm just getting started with my review of celebrity Beyond we still have to talk about the bars and lounges the entertainment Cruise service and of course food and dining but before I get into those areas I'd like for you to do me a favor if you're enjoying this video so far and if you you're passionate about cruising I would like to invite you to subscribe to our YouTube channel all you have to do is click the Subscribe button down below and that notification Bell there's absolutely no cost to subscribe it's completely free and you will be notified when we post new videos like this one okay let's get back to celebrity Beyond celebrity has created several different spaces on beyond for guests to enjoy their favorite beverage aft on Deck 16 is the sunset bar which not only is a full service bar but is even larger and nicer than on apex this is a popular hangout spot at Sunset hence the name forward on Deck 16 you'll find the retreat Lounge where Retreat guests can enjoy beverage service throughout the day midship on Deck 16 you'll find the magic carpet during the daytime and that was our favorite spot for an afternoon pina colada or rum punch there is a smaller Mast bar a little further aft on Deck 16 but I rarely saw anyone there moving down to deck 14 you'll find the pool bar which is easily accessible while lounging around the pool all the way aft on Deck 14 is the Ocean View Bar you'll find it backed by the pizza spot in Ocean View Cafe the spa Cafe and juice bar is also located on Deck 14 at the solarium and here you can get healthy smoothies and other Juice drinks on Deck 5 aft is edenbar one of the most beautiful spots on the ship with Lush greeneries surrounding you as you enjoy your favorite drink along with Incredible views of the ship's wake there's a full service bar located in the club a multi-use entertainment venue on decks four and five midship the world class bar is midship on Deck 5 and is a venue unique to celebrity Beyond and Ascent if a sports bar theme is your thing then you'll like craft social on deck for Portside while on the other side of the Grand Plaza is Cafe albaccio offering every type of coffee specialty drink you can imagine our personal favorite bar on Celebrity Beyond and apparently the majority of guests is on X3 on the lowest level of the Grand Plaza and that is the iconic martini bar there is excellent Lounge entertainment here in the evenings comfortable seating and entertaining bartenders if you arrive early and can get a seat at the bar you'll be served by talented bartenders who turn making your cocktail into a form of entertainment Ricky was able to get her Lemon Drop Martini so she was quite pleased we found the bar service throughout the entire ship to be excellent we only wish the bar in the club had been open during the day when trivia and other games are held there on this cruise we enjoyed the premium beverage package which covered the cost of all cocktails up to 17 soft drinks bottled water or canned water as the case may be and Specialty coffee drinks the premium beverage package also gives you a discount on bottles of wine but is it worth the cost I suppose that really depends on how much you drink if you had two lattes in the morning a couple of pina coladas by the pool maybe a couple of cocktails before dinner a couple glasses of wine with dinner and maybe even a couple of after dinner drinks then yes the biggest advantage of the premium drink package for us though is just one of convenience once again we have to say that the bar service on Celebrity Beyond is excellent as good or better than any other cruise ship in the premium Cruise Line category are only one problem we encountered was it Ocean View Bar on the very last day of the cruise when they ran out of Diet Coke the hardest thing to review on any cruise ship is food since everyone has different tastes now I'm working on a completely separate video where I'm going to do a deep dive on all of the food and dining venues that we enjoyed on Celebrity Beyond so make sure you watch for that video coming soon and once it's been released I will include links in this video and in the description of this video so why not go ahead and subscribe and click the notification Bell so you'll get notified as soon as that video is posted on YouTube and don't forget you can also follow us on Instagram and Facebook where we post dozens of photos and videos during our cruises we were very pleased with the food and dining experience on Celebrity Beyond celebrity has a different approach to main dining On The Edge class ships instead of one huge dining room they split it into four different venues each one with its own distinct theme Cyprus is a Greek inspired dining room on deck for aft right next door to Cyprus you'll find Cosmopolitan which has more of a continental theme one Deck Down is Tuscan an Italian themed restaurant right across from Normandy a French themed restaurant each restaurant has its own decor and differentiates the menus last year on apex we only visited the main dining room one time but on Beyond we tried three different mdrs and in my upcoming food and dining video I'm going to tell you everything we tried what we liked and what we weren't so crazy about the menus in each restaurant share a common selection of celebrity signature choices which change every day in addition to a few dishes unique to the restaurant which reflects the restaurants theme it's a very creative take on main dining and one that we really like each restaurant also offers a choice of celebrity Classics which are sort of an always available selection Beyond also offers several specialty restaurants for which you pay an additional cost on this sailing we dined at Le Voyage on our first evening on board Raw on five for a light lunch one day La Grande Bistro for lunch on another day and we celebrated Valentine's Day at rooftop garden Grill our final specialty restaurant was the fine cut Steakhouse we made two or three visits to Ocean View cafe for lunch and also tried out Eden Cafe one day which really surprised us but did it surprise us in a good way or a not so good way well you're gonna have to watch my food and dining video to find out during the daytime there are a lot of shipboard activities going on all over the place the club is the most popular spot for team trivia and other game shows like yes no deal or no deal etc the trivia had the hardest questions we've ever had on a cruise golf putting and shipping competitions were fun and very well attended the activity staff hosts some games Outdoors such as Bago competition table tennis and pool volleyball Ricky won the Bago competition One Day by dropping three bean bags in a row into the hole there were a variety of Lounge acts in Eden Bar martini bar and the Sunset Bar and occasionally by the pool the celebrity Beyond Orchestra is a group of on-board musicians who are extremely talented and they can be found in a variety of venues on different evenings we attended all three Production shows on this cruise and we were not disappointed Not only was most of the music played live by the Beyond Orchestra all of the vocalists in the show were extremely talented foreign [Applause] [Music] we remembered how much we enjoyed rockumentary on apex last year and the entertainment is even better than we remember the theater itself is one of the nicest we've seen on any ship it's a theater in the round design with a 17 million pixel LED screen that serves up background images for the shows the Acoustics and unobstructed Views were also excellent the Production shows are made up of more than 20 singers dancers acrobats contortionists and aerialists they were all amazing if your preferred form of entertainment revolves around gambling the casino is located on Deck 4 midship and offers a wide variety of table games including Blackjack craps poker and Roulette in addition to a large selection of slot machines now we just haven't had very good luck with celebrities casinos in the past and this Cruise was no different we made a sizable donation the first few days of the cruise then we kind of backed off lately we've seen some YouTube videos from other Cruise vloggers claiming that cruise staff on some ships appear to be sort of discouraged and unhappy maybe overworked and that seems to be resulting in poor or slow service and I can't speak to those Cruise Lines because nothing could be further from the truth on Celebrity Beyond this is one of the friendliest Crews we've ever sailed with everyone was smiling happy and appears to love their job our stateroom attendant Julie was always on hand if we needed anything and she kept our stateroom spotlessly clean the White staff at Cafe albaccio where I spent at least two hours each morning while working on my blog would routinely come by to take my order and after the second day they would just bring my americano coffee without me even having to ask them that's the kind of personal service you normally only find on a luxury Cruise Line like silver sea or Regent celebrity still offers evening turndown service in addition to daily cleaning of the state rooms and Suites they still Place chocolates on the pillows at night the turndown service the chocolates and a few other little details are what distinguish a premium cruise line from your typical Mass Market Cruise Lines the guests on our sailing were primarily adults like ourselves traveling as couples we only saw a few children the entire cruise and maybe a couple of babies I would say that the average age of the guests was 40 plus there were a few guests we saw that were probably in their late 30s but maybe only a few 20-somethings so this really answers the question of who is celebrity a good fit for this is definitely a cruise line for adults of course kids are welcome but first and foremost it's an adult focused Cruise Line I can't compare celebrity to Virgin voyages as we have never had the opportunity to sail with them and it's been so many years since we sailed on Oceana that I wouldn't feel comfortable including them in my comparison either we are however very familiar with Princess Holland America and Viking ocean having sailed on all three within the past last year of those four Cruise Lines celebrity princess Holland America and Viking I would say that celebrity and Viking are at the top tier for adult Cruisers princess is the most family focused of the premium Cruise Lines a direction which is relatively new for that brand Holland America also seems just a tad more family focused than celebrity but not as much as Princess so for adult couples celebrity and Viking are top tier in my opinion celebrities advantage over Viking would be the larger ships with better entertainment and a casino Vikings Advantage would be smaller more intimate ships included excursions and virtually unlimited destination choices my only real complaint with celebrity Beyond was the internet Wi-Fi service on the last two days of the cruise however five out of seven days of good internet is still a big improvement over the pre-starlink days the ship is absolutely beautiful the crew is amazing we loved Captain Kate McHugh and how engaged she was with the guests celebrity Beyond is now one of our top five favorite cruise ships of all time and one that we would love to sail on again and out of 109 ships on which we've sailed being in the top five is not bad at all if you've sailed on celebrities Edge class ships please post your thoughts in the comments section of this video we read every comment and we'd like to know if you agree with our assessment of the ship so if you have a specific question about our experience post that as well if you enjoyed this video please take a few seconds to click that like button it makes a huge difference with our YouTube rankings thanks for watching today and as always no matter what ship you choose to cruise on we wish you smooth sailing [Music] [Music]

Channel: CruiseReport

Views: 72,636

Keywords: cruise review, cruisereport, chris dikmen, caribbean cruise, cruise, cruise travel, luxury cruise, cruise photography, travel, travel photography, cruise line, cruise ship, cruise ship review, cypress, cruise vlog, cruise blog, cruise blogger, cruise vlogger, cruise with ben and david, la lido loco, cruise with, celebrity cruises, celebrity beyond, celebrity edge, celebrity apex, celebrity beyond review

Id: iQG9dNy8qEM

Length: 24min 33sec (1473 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 03 2023